Sick and tired of paying out the nose each month for car insurance? You are in the same boat as the majority of other car owners in Alabama.
Insurance companies such as Geico, Progressive and Allstate persitently shower you with TV and radio ads and it is difficult to see past the geckos and flying pigs and take the time to shop coverage around.
How to Compare Auto Insurance in Athens
All the larger auto insurance companies provide prices on their websites. Obtaining pricing doesn’t take a lot of time as you simply type in your required coverages into the quote form. After you submit the form their rating system will obtain your driving record and credit report and returns pricing information. Being able to quote online makes comparing rates easy, but the process of having to visit each company’s website and repetitively type in the same information gets old quite quickly. But it’s absolutely necessary to do this if you want to find a lower rate.
The quickest way to lower your auto insurance bill makes use of a single form that gets prices from a lot of companies. This type of form saves time, requires much less work on your part, and makes price shopping online a little more enjoyable. After your information is entered, it is quoted and you are able to buy any or none of the resulting price quotes.
If a lower price is quoted, you can simply submit the application and purchase coverage. The whole process only takes a few minutes and you will know how your current rates stack up.
If you want to compare pricing, simply click here to open in new window and input your coverage information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend that you enter the insurance coverages identical to your current policy. This way, you will have rate quotes for exact coverage.
Be sure to get all your discounts
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but there could be available discounts to reduce the price significantly. Most are applied when you complete an application, but less common discounts must be specially asked for before they will apply.
- Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Early Switch Discount – Some companies give discounts for signing up before your current policy expires. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Lower Rates for Military – Being deployed with a military unit could mean lower rates.
- Auto/Life Discount – Companies who offer life insurance give a break if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
- Claim Free – Good drivers with no accidents can earn big discounts when compared with frequent claim filers.
- Payment Discounts – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save up to 5%.
- Own a Home – Owning a house in Athens may earn you a small savings due to the fact that maintaining a home is proof that your finances are in order.
- Good Students Pay Less – A discount for being a good student can get you a discount of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you until age 25.
- Seat Belt Usage – Requiring all passengers to use a seat belt could cut 10% or more off the personal injury premium cost.
Drivers should understand that most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Some only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So even though it sounds like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you won’t be that lucky. But any discount will help reduce your overall premium however.
For a list of insurers offering auto insurance discounts in Alabama, follow this link.
Good Decisions Result in Lower Rates
Consumers need to have an understanding of the factors that play a part in calculating your auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively determines base rates allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to better auto insurance rates.
Shown below are some of the items companies use to determine prices.
- Lower rates come with age – Older insureds tend to be more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and are safer drivers. Young drivers have a tendency to be careless and easily distracted when behind the wheel therefore auto insurance rates are much higher.
- Having a spouse can save you money – Getting married can actually save you money when buying auto insurance. Having a spouse is viewed as being more mature and it’s statistically proven that married couples file fewer claims.
- Sex matters – Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, don’t assume that women are better drivers. They both tend to get into accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Men also tend to have more aggressive citations like DUI and reckless driving.
- Safe vehicles cost less to insure – Cars with high safety ratings can get you lower premiums. These vehicles result in less severe injuries and fewer injuries translates into savings for insurance companies passed on to you as lower rates.
- Bundling policies can get discounts – Most insurers give discounts to customers who carry more than one policy. It’s known as a multi-policy discount. This can amount to five, ten or even twenty percent. Even with this discount, you may still want to compare other company rates to verify if the discount is saving money. You may still be able to find a better deal by splitting coverages up.
- Your auto insurance rates can be influenced by your job – Did you know your job can affect your rates? Occupations such as doctors, executives and stock brokers have the highest rates attributed to high stress and lots of time spent at work. On the other hand, professions such as actors, students and performers get better rates.
Don’t be fooled by advertising claims
Auto insurance companies such as Progressive, Geico, Allstate and State Farm consistently run ads in print and on television. They all seem to have a common claim that you’ll save big if you change to them. How do they all make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver they prefer to insure. An example of a profitable customer could possibly be over the age of 40, a clean driving record, and has great credit. A customer who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Drivers who don’t measure up to this ideal profile will be quoted higher rates and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads state “drivers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently make the claims of big savings.
This emphasizes why you should quote coverage with many companies. It is impossible to predict which company will provide you with the cheapest rates.
More effort can pay off
You just learned a lot of information how to shop for auto insurance online. It’s most important to understand that the more times you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may be surprised to find that the lowest priced auto insurance comes from a lesser-known regional company. Smaller companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive and Geico.
The cheapest auto insurance can be bought on the web and with local Athens insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance providers do not offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.
Additional Alabama consumer information
Much more information about auto insurance in Alabama can be read on the website for the Alabama Department of Insurance found here. Alabama consumers can view a list of available companies, find a variety of consumer forms, view agent and company licensing information, and read industry bulletins.
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